HUNTINGTON BEACH : Losing Council Candidate Faces Complaint Party Was Too Loud

City Planning Commissioner Susie Newman, a recent council candidate, has been slapped with a misdemeanor complaint that she violated conditions of a temporary entertainment permit to play live music at her downtown restaurant on election night.

Police charge that music played on the night of Nov. 8 was so loud that it could be heard outside Newman’s restaurant. Police also charge that the establishment’s owners allowed dancing inside the Italian restaurant, called Mazzotti’s, at 412 Walnut Ave.

“The bottom line is she violated the temporary live entertainment permit,” said Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg.

Lowenberg said one of the conditions of the permit is that noise would not disturb surrounding businesses and residents.

“We determined based on complaints that in fact you could hear the noise and that it was loud and audible beyond the property of Mazzotti’s,” Lowenberg said.

Police said the Orange County district attorney’s office is handling the case because of Newman’s role as a public official.

Newman, who held her election night party at her restaurant, said she received notice of the complaint--a misdemeanor violation--in her home mail on Friday. The complaint summons her to appear Jan. 4 in West Court in Westminster to enter a plea.

Newman, co-owner of the restaurant with Leonard Mazzotti, said that the charges are petty and that they also jeopardize the restaurant’s license to sell liquor.

Newman, who came in fifth out of 22 candidates vying for four open seats on the council, said that the charge “no question is harassment.”

Lowenberg said Newman’s charge of harassment is “ludicrous.”

“We have better things to do than harass,” he said.

Newman said police arrived at the restaurant Nov. 7 because of noise complaints, and as a result the band stopped playing about 10:30 p.m. The next night, she said, the music ended by 10:15 p.m. Of the dancing, Newman said her supporters were merely reacting to incoming election results on her status in the race.

“They’re picking on me, and I just ran for public office. I have knowledge how the system works--imagine how the other people who have less knowledge of the system feel about getting a fair shake.”